User Reviews

Strengths: Light, approximately ~220 grams (lighter than 8 speed XT). Individual sprockets can be easily replaced, if local bike shops would sell them...

Weaknesses: Sprockets are connected to each other with one pin: when lock-ring is not tight enough, significant sprockets movement occurs... 3-4 gear sprockets wear out fast, careful and slow shifting is a must.

Bottom Line:

Light with good shifting performance for the first 1000 miles of XC riding. Switching back to heavier Shimano for durability and longevity reasons.

It may be because the rest of my drivetrain is Shimano, but this cassette shifts very slow for me. I've tried dialing the barrel adjuster in to get it to shift better but I haven't had any luck. It is something that I can probably live with and I may wait until it naturally wears out to replace it. But I will definitely replace it with some other brand of cassette.

I found initially that this cogset wore quickly, but since giving up on the rubbish SRAM 8-speed chains and converting to Wippermann, cassette life has improved dramatically. 7,000km since buying the bike, this third cogset has done about 3,000km and seems to have plenty of life left in it yet. While this bike sees 95% road usage, I ride 120-160km a week, rain hail or shine. With shoes, noggin protector and backpack I weigh around 195lbs. I've had zero issues with chain skipping, bent cogs or broken teeth. A good, strong 8-speed cassette for general on- and off-road use.

Bought the Sram chain and cassette together to put on a new wheelset and they both cr@pped out at the same time. Going back to shimano chain and shimano cassette, but I am having trouble finding a shimano cassette in 8 speed with similiar ratios. I love sram and have had the shifters and derailers for years, was kind of gearing up to have a shimano free bike, but sram really disapointed me on the cassette and chain. I wouldn't recommend this cassette or the pc 68 chain, both are garbage.

Bike Setup: Good ol '98 Stumpy with mavic cross rides and marzochi bomber. What's all this stuff I keep hearing about dual suspension?

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Chris
a Cross Country Rider
from Portage, WI, USA

Date Reviewed: August 20, 2007

Strengths: none,...

Weaknesses: everything

Bottom Line:

i've gone through 2,...that's right,...2 PG-850's over the last 6 months,...i didn't want to go through jumping to a 9-speed when i'm so used to having an 8. the first one snapped a few teeth off one of the larger cogs,...no big deal becuase SRAM sent me a second one and on that one, the 11 tooth cog snapped in half right in the middle of a race,...don't get me wrong,...its no often that you need to use the smallest cog in a race but this race called for it and it failed the test...i'm an avid SRAM lover to the end but i'll never use this cassette again...

Strengths: Shifting was smooth and seamless. 8 speed ratios seemed just right for me.

Weaknesses: On first real XC, fourth smallest sprocket shattered right in half. I was in the middle of a fairly technical climb, driving it with all my might then *crack. I thought the chain broke and looked down to find this sprocket in two pieces. Could have been worse and I could have been thrashed to the ground because of it so I guess I was lucky.

Bottom Line:

The bottom line is that I think I was a freak accident. The pro at the local bike shop said he had never seen anything like this before. I like to think its because of how strong my legs are. Oh yea, might be a good idea to mention that I weigh in at 225.

Bike Setup: DB Response Sport package 06. Its orange and it has a nice seat.

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
cougar
a Cross Country Rider
from Baltimore

Date Reviewed: April 27, 2007

Strengths: Quick shifting, 11-28 perfect for me (also available in 11-32 for peaple who like granny gears)

Weaknesses: Seems to wear out a bit faster than Shimano cassettes

Bottom Line:

This is a nice cassette for people still running 8 speed. I'm not a fan of 9 speed for various reasons. These cassettes are tough, reliable, and very smooth and quick shifting (I also use SRAM chains which may aid this.) The only downside I have experienced with this casstte is that unless you replace the chain often, it seems to wear a bit faster then the Shimano cassettes.

Threw this on a set of deore/sunlite rhino rims and a set of slicks for commuting. Gets the job done; very nice smooth shifting. Yet to put a ton of mileage on it since the weather started to go south, but the 50+ miles that have been on it so far have been great. Didn't have to mess with the derailur when swapping out wheelsets from city/street to mountain. big plus.

Weaknesses: Only had it on for three rides- hasn`t had time to have problems yet

Bottom Line:

I know I haven`t put enough time on this cassette to see how it`s going to do over time, but what I was worried about was the big gap between 26t sprkt and 32t and this doesn`t seem to be any real problem. It`s noticeable, but it still shifts fine and I don`t go flying off the bike from the jolt. I put on a new chain at the same time and it ended up being the same length as the old chain. Simple. If anyone else is worried about the same thing, give it a try- it seems to be working for me.

Weaknesses: It's an 8-Speed, but hey I have 2 bikes now(the other being a 9-speed of course)! & It doesn't want to break! I've tried...eaten the dirt and some rocks too. It holds.

Bottom Line:

I got this bike 2 years ago -when I began MTBing (entry level). The componenets were the super flimsy and flexy kind. So I upgraded EVERYTHING, Except the SRAM cassette. I sold all the old parts on eBAY (yes people actually bought them, Ha!) so I didn't end up spending TOO TOO much. Anyhow -Suprisingly, the cogs have never bent, clogged up, or failed in any way. They have gone through one busted chain, one bent chainring (stock crank), a change of hub, and still spin great! I do keep them oiled however. I just recently began XC races, with this bike. Besides it being an 8-speed it handled steadlily and quick. The shifting is great! When I do upgrade this cassette (eventually) I will definitely stick with SRAM. Bottom line: if you match this cassette with a good drivetrain it should last you a while and perform great!

Strengths: Shiny, has good gear spacing and options, good durability so far, shifts smooth

Weaknesses: none so far

Bottom Line:

This is what came on the bike. It has about 3500 miles on it of which only about 40% is off road (I use it as a commuter bike.) It's holding up well. Breaking teeth? Well, could have been a bad one, I don't know, but I don't shift under a heavy load, particulaly if I'm in an 11 tooth gear. Anyway, the thing works, it's not too heavy, and it's cheaper than the XT stuff. The SRAM stuff seems to be a good alternative to Shimano and their legendary lack of customer support. I've used SRAM and Shimano chains with this cassette and they both work satisfactory.

Weaknesses: I just had my second one shatter on the smallest gear. Each one had 4 to 5 months of usage (approx 700 miles) before shattering. Half my riding is on pavement and half on trails. I don't do jumps or drops. I weigh around 160 pounds. I keep my drive train well-lubed.

Bottom Line:

Once could have been an anomoly. Twice sounds like a poorly engineered product to me. If you need dependability you might want to avoid this one. Note: SRAM graciously replaced the first one under warranty. Action on the second one is pending.

Submitted by
Cegrover
a Cross Country Rider
from Huntington Beach, CA, USA

Date Reviewed: September 10, 2005

Strengths: Light weight and great performance. Availability of 32T cog for 8-speed.

Weaknesses: None noted so far. Would like a 34T version even more.

Bottom Line:

This cassette has been great for all types of XC riding. It's almost as light as the XTR Ti cassette for a fraction of the price. There aren't all that many high quality, 8-speed cassettes available new anymore, but this is a very good one for those of us who have no desire to change to 9-speed, which just invites shifting problems (witness my wife's bikes). Five value chilis and four overall - a 34T cog might earn 5.

HAd this cassette a week on my ride. I slipped off a skinny, not a real hard impact, the second and third ring bent like butter. The rear derailer hit also but never broke! At least the X9 is tough! If it is goin to come stock on a freeride/downhill ride then it should be able to take some hits! Well at least more then 1 !!!